Tuesday, December 03, 2013

Like Father, Like Son

The military is a hereditary profession for some families (including one you know quite well, Gentle Reader) but this family is somewhat unique (from the Usual USAF Source):

Tibbets Earns B-52 Certification, Grandfather Honored

Col. Paul Tibbets IV, grandson of the late retired Brig. Gen. Paul Tibbets
and Air Force Global Strike Command's deputy director of operations,
qualified to fly the B-52H, making him one of a select few pilots
trained to fly all three of the Air Force's bomber types. He flew the
B-1B and B-2A during previous assignments, according to a service
release. "This is not an accomplishment many achieve," said Lt. Col.
James Morriss, commander of Air Force Reserve Command's 93rd Bomb
Squadron. Tibbets earned the certification on Nov. 21 at Barksdale AFB,
La., in a B-52 painted with Red Gremlin II nose art as a tribute to his grandfather. The latter Tibbets, best known for piloting the B-29 Enola Gay that dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan in August 1945, also flew the B-17 Red Gremlin
against Nazi-occupied Europe. "My grandfather had a passion for
aviation and most specifically, bombers," said Colonel Tibbets. "I am
honored to play a small part in keeping his legacy alive," he said.
(Barksdale report by MSgt. Greg Steele)

If you embiggen that picture you'll see Colonel Tibbets' call sign is "Nuke." Let's hope he never has to fly the same sort of mission as his grandfather did over Japan.

Alas, TAC took over SAC and renamed itself ACC. God forbid you got caught on the flight-line with your cuffs rolled up or sleeves pushed up (or a spoon in your pen holder). The 120 degree concrete not being a valid excuse :-) Isn't "Nazi-occupied Europe" PC?? As Slim Pickens in 1941 said "Well let me tell you something, Mr. Heinie Kraut, I fought your kind in the great war, and we kicked the living shit out of you!" :-)